Category: Perception Is Reality

I was reminded yesterday of where all the time came from that was required to build my quote website…

…And it came from all of the time I might’ve otherwise played video games.

See, I had two experiences with video games that essentially made me quit cold turkey. One was from an inception-like experience where I played for 16+ hours straight and got stuck in a nightmare that night for what felt like a year. The second was when I saw a stat tracker that said I had been playing this other game for 13+ days in total time.

After that, I recommitted this freshly available time into the creative act of building MoveMe Quotes.

“…And so you worked full time and then came home and kept working some more, huh?” …Is what this person asked.

But, that’s not how it felt at all.

Building this website was like a video game in itself. I was trying to create this beautiful user experience that felt like I was building a home on SIMS or an amusement park on Roller Coaster Tycoon.

I was trying to maximize my organic marketing and SEO exposure to build an army of dedicated followers—like if I was playing Dynasty Warriors or Age Of Empires.

I was selling digital products and even built a merch store to offset the costs of running this popular website and maybe even make a profit—like if I was playing any business oriented game like Lemonade Tycoon.

The point is, I wasn’t working: I was just playing a different game—one that was IRL oriented.

…And maybe there’s a similar perspective you can adopt, too?

A few days ago I wrote about Meditating On Death.

Here’s a response I got from a reader, “This is interesting because it reminds me of this audiobook I was listening to a while ago, A Guide to the Good Life where it talks about Negative Visualization… picturing what’s the worse that can happen. I was chuckling because I realized I do this a lot to myself but always assumed I was just making myself feel anxiety or worry because that’s what was familiar/comfortable, but understood the value of it after listening to that chapter, so I began doing so with more intention, like you talk about. I guess I’ll add my own death to my list of things to visualize [lol].”

And this insight is crucial to understand.

Because when it comes to visualization, the intuitive understanding is that we should fill our minds with best possible outcomes, life-expanding goals being realized, our potential being unleashed in full, and so on. To do negative visualization sounds so counterintuitive and like it’d have precisely that effect on our life. But, the key here is, “…with more intention” as the reader states above.

See instead of letting negative visualizations lead to anxiety and worry and lesser desired emotional states... we take control of the message and intend for it to result in gratitude and appreciation and an urgency to do great things while we still have the chance.

It’s within our power to do this.

And what an incredibly impressive power this is!

…Anxiety traded for gratitude?! Worry traded for appreciation?! Lesser desired emotional states for higher ones and an urgency to live fully?!

I hope you’ll try this today.

I went to a music festival this past weekend and lost my voice yelling and screaming.

…Makes things kind of tough when you come back to work as a teacher.

But, what was interesting is that it made me perceive all of my daily communication challenges differently—a forced perspective change if you will.

And so rather than greet everybody with an over the top volume… today, I greeted everybody with claps and a whisper.

Rather than communicate with my instructors and staff in one broad stroke of my voice… I met each of them where they were and communicated individually.

…Which, interestingly enough, made me do the same with the students. Rather than ask the class questions, I asked each student individually. Rather than delegate after class helping, I spent a little extra time whispering answers to the ones who asked. And rather than control the whole dialogue of the class, I delegated and had students and other staff members get involved.

Having no voice as a teacher can undoubtedly be a challenge… but it doesn’t have to be a problem.

Inner Work Prompt: What are you looking at as a problem that might be better percieved as a challenge?

Not being able to be spontaneous isn’t about your need for a plan or your desire for control… it’s about not being able to trust yourself.

Because it’s not about what happens in each moment… it’s about what you bring to each moment…

And if you don’t think you can let go of the future (plans) and bring great energy and perspective to the present (one moment at a time)… then maybe it isn’t the plans you need to work on…

Yesterday, my flight got delayed.

The first announcement was that the plane had been sitting in the sun all day and the A/C wasn’t able to cool off the inside of the plane enough to allow people to board. So they told us they were going to keep trying and keep us posted.

The second announcement was that they attached a separate A/C unit onto the plane that should help expedite the cooling process.

The third announcement was that the previously mentioned A/C unit wasn’t working and was only blowing more hot outside air into the plane.

The fourth announcement was that they were going to have us fly out on a completely different plane that was still 40 minutes away from landing at the airport.

And finally, after around three hours of delays, we finally were able to board the freshly landed plane.

You can imagine the irritation and frustration experienced by the people waiting at that gate.

The people I was with, however, ended up having a great time.

We had some great conversations. We joked and laughed. We shared ideas, pictures, and videos. And, in retrospect, it ended up not being a three hour inconvenience, but a three hour opportunity to connect more deeply with the people I happened to be delayed with.

When you stop letting things outside of your control ruin your state… suddenly… your state isn’t ruined nearly as often. Because, generally speaking, your state is always something that’s within your control. Get it?

It’s as John Wooden so famously once said, “Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”